A just energy transition to a low-carbon economy in South Africa is expected to result in the loss of about 300 000 jobs, but the creation of about 815 000 new jobs up to 2050. It is also expected to improve the country’s competitiveness and drive growth higher by about 2.3% a year, World Bank senior education specialist Elizabeth Ninan revealed this week.
Eskom on Wednesday evening called off the planned outage of Koeberg unit 1 at the eleventh hour as the utility scrambled to avoid moving to Stage 7 loadshedding. The decision, not yet announced by the utility, was confirmed to News24 by two independent sources who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, argues that there can no longer be a trade-off between industrial development and climate action. Speaking at the fourth German-African Business Summit in Sandton on Wednesday, Habeck said that the approach being pursued by the German government was premised on creating new markets and industrial opportunities that included climate action.
French-based renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) Total Eren and Aim-listed Chariot, pursuant to a partnership entered into in November 2021, have agreed to work together on the development, financing, construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) project that will provide competitive electricity for the Karo platinum project, in Zimbabwe. The solar PV project is expected to have an initial installed capacity of 30 M, with a potential extension of up to 300 MW.
Engie expects to move forward with three South African solar projects this week as the nation struggles to accelerate a program to add renewable power. The French developer plans to sign power-purchase agreements for a total of 225 MW of solar projects after being selected as a preferred bidder as part of the so-called fifth bid window, according to Mohamed Hoosen, Engie’s managing director for renewables in Africa, Middle East and Asia.
Diversified minerals and investment group Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC Group) has confirmed it is in pre-feasibility stage and finalising an environment risk assessment on a 117 MW wind farm project, which will power a 69 MW electrolysis production plant, in Jeffreys Bay, in the Eastern Cape.
The electrolysis plant will have a green hydrogen production capacity of about 9.8 t/y.
Stage 4 loadshedding will kick in from 09:00 on Wednesday, Eskom announced. “Due to further breakdowns and delayed returns of generating units to service, Stage 4 load shedding will be implemented from 09:00 until further notice,” spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.
The board of industrial park management agency the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has adopted a sustainability framework that will guide the organisation’s projects, investments and operations. The framework is a policy statement of its commitments to sustainability, which will be measured against environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes.
Recycling technology and supply chain platform ACE Green Recycling (ACE) and diversified miner Glencore have entered into a long-term supply agreement for recycled lead, as well as key battery metal based end products from recycled lithium-ion batteries.
This strategic partnership will help create a circular supply chain on a global scale for high-demand battery materials, while reducing their environmental footprint.
The global energy crisis is driving an unprecedented acceleration in the installation of renewable power, with total capacity growth worldwide set to almost double in the next five years to reach 2 400 GW by 2027, according to the ‘Renewables 2022’ report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on December 6.
The report also finds that renewables are set to account for over 90% of global electricity expansion over the next five years, as well as adding as much renewables in the next five years as it did in the past 20, overtaking coal to become the largest source of global electricity by early 2025.
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